Tag Archives: Ecology Center

Citing safety concerns, the city of Berkeley wants to move Thursday’s North Berkeley farmers market to a location a few hundred feet south-east of its current site on the stretch of Shattuck Avenue that runs between Shattuck Place and Rose Street. The Ecology Center, which runs all of Berkeley’s farmers markets, is resisting the move, saying the proposed new site, on the service road in front of businesses such as Saul’s Deli and Masse’s bakery, presents problems of its own.

Visitors to the market in recent weeks have been asked to sign petitions to lobby to keep the local food stalls where they are.

Discussions about the location and safety of the 11-year old Gourmet Ghetto market, which attracts an average of 1,800 people a week, have been ongoing for many months, according to both the city and the Ecology Center. The talks appear to have reached something of a stalemate, however. … Continue reading »

Fall and winter fruit is officially here! Cold-weather varieties include pears, pomegranates, persimmons, dates, and the most diverse of them all: citrus.

Currently available are lemons, pomellos, grapefruit, and of course, the mandarin orange. This small fruit packs a large flavor, and, despite its popularity, is often mistaken for its descendants: the clementine and tangerine. The latter fruits are actually “cultivars” of the mandarin, meaning they are mandarin oranges that have been bred for a desired trait.. … Continue reading »

From the classic tan butternut squash to the brightly colored sweet dumpling, winter squash come in a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. In general, winter squash have tough outer rinds with sweet-tasting inner flesh and are conveniently interchangeable in recipes.

Despite their name, winter squash are harvested during the start of fall, and can last for extensive periods of time without rotting if stored properly. Their long shelf-life and beautiful colors make for charming fall décor.

The most well-known variety of winter squash is the pumpkin, but you’d be best leaving it for carving into a jack o’lantern. Most commercially available pumpkin pie fillings are made not with pumpkin, but other, sweeter, varieties of winter squash.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who fought unsuccessfully to establish a cap on the size of soda portions sold in that city, has donated $85,000 to the Yes on Measure D campaign.

His contribution – the largest the soda tax advocates have gotten to date – is one of three significant donations made by national groups in recent days, according to Josh Daniels, the co-chair of the campaign. The American Heart Association recently gave $23,000 and the Center for Science in the Public Interest kicked in $15,000. … Continue reading »

Openings, closings…

SAUSAGE GRILL TO TEMESCAL Rosamunde Sausage Grill is set to open in the old Good Bellies Café space at 4659 Telegraph Ave. It’s the second East Bay location for the sausage and craft beer purveyor, which is also at Swan’s Marketplace in Old Oakland. Inside Scoop SF reports that owner Josh Margolis thinks Temescal’s restaurant row, with all its buzz, is “a great place to be.” It’s the fifth Rosamunde location — others are in San Francisco and Brooklyn. Rosamunde Sausage Grill will be at 4659 Telegraph Ave., Oakland. Connect with Rosamunde on Facebook and Twitter.

UME IS NO MORE It’s only been the blink of an eye, but Oakland’s Ume, next door to Plum Bar, both part of the Daniel Patterson Group empire, has been shuttered. It will re-open as an expanded Plum Bar & Restaurant, according to the Bay Area News Group. Plum became Japanese-centric Ume — Japanese for “plum” — just four months ago, while Plum Bar next door continued as was. The newly configured spot will offer a seasonal menu of “Americana flavors,” including biscuit sandwiches, Plum Bar burgers, and soft-serve desserts from the Malted, a hit at San Francisco’s Alta CA, another Patterson eatery. A Patterson Group rep told Inside Scoop SF that Ume was “always meant to be a pop-up to see if that format/style worked for the neighborhood,” and that ultimately it was decided “that expanding Plum Bar made the most sense for the community.” Plum Bar is at 2216 Broadway (near 22nd Street) in Oakland. Connect with Plum Bar on Facebook and Twitter. … Continue reading »

SHREK THE MUSICALShrek the Musical continues at Berkeley Playhouse through Aug. 3, including several performances on Saturday July 12 and Sunday July 13. This “silly, modern-day fairytale,” described as “a visual adventure” and “highly entertaining” by local reviewers, tells the story of everyone’s favorite ogre who goes on a life-changing adventure. Joined by a wise-cracking donkey, this unlikely hero fights a fearsome dragon, rescues a feisty princess and learns that friendship and love aren’t only found in fairy tales. The large adult and youth cast is directed and choreographed by Matthew McCoy with music direction by Rachel Robinson. Visit Berkeley Playhouse for dates and times, including several “pay what you can” performances. … Continue reading »

The city of Berkeley recognized more than two dozen local businesses Thursday night for their efforts to track and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions as part of the second annual Energy Smart Awards program.

The city of Berkeley has reduced community-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 8% since 2000 despite a 10% increase in population, the city announced in an annual report mailed last week to residents and businesses throughout the city.

The mailing is the most comprehensive public report produced by the city to date on its progress toward Climate Action Plan goals established in 2006. The city has set a target of a 33% reduction in emissions by 2020, and an 80% reduction by 2050.

The latest annual report, centered around the theme of sustainability, is “a way to look at a broad swath of what city government work is,” said city spokesman Matthai Chakko, “how departments all come together, even if they seem to be working separately, toward a common goal.” … Continue reading »

There’s a secret green side to Berkeley, one that is not visible from the sidewalk.

They are Berkeley’s roof gardens — oases of calm amidst a city of concrete. Some were created to provide food, others to make buildings more energy-friendly. Whatever the reason, they remain mostly unseen.

Over the past few weeks, Berkeleyside has located several living roofs around Berkeley. Of course, journalists can’t fly, so we likely did not find every rooftop garden. By contacting architects, squinting at Google Maps, and combing through past exposés on green living, we found four living roofs scattered around the city. If you know of any roofs that we missed, please let us know in the comments. … Continue reading »

The Ecology Center announced today that it will now collect more types of plastic items, expanding its curbside collection and processing to handle things like dairy tubs, tupperware, vitamin bottles, plastic cups and trays.

“It’s sort of been a long time coming,” said Martin Bourque, executive director of the Ecology Center, which has managed Berkeley’s recycling for 40 years.

Currently, the center’s weekly curbside pickup accepts only those plastic products indicated with a No. 1 or No. 2 triangle, and, among those, only narrow-neck designs like disposable water bottles and milk jugs. Bourque said this is because containers with different designs, like yogurt cups, have different chemical compositions and must be processed separately.

“The plastics that we’re adding are plastics that some people put in anyway, so we’ve been sorting them out and selling them instead of sending them to the landfill,” he said.

Openings…

A16 ROCKRIDGE All things going well, A16 Rockridge, the sister restaurant to A16 in San Francisco, will open May 30 in the old Hudson/Garibaldi space at 5356 College Ave. This is the third restauraunt for co-owners Victoria Libin and Shelley Lindgren (also the wine director), who, along with A16 in the Marina, run Michelin-starred SPQR in the Fillmore district. Chef Rocky Maselli, formerly chef-owner of Osteria Sfizo, a modern Italian restaurant in Eugene, Ore., is running the kitchen. Expect his dishes to be influenced by the cuisine of the coastal regions surrounding Italy’s A16 highway. (On the opening menu: selection of crudo, including Somerset oysters and Fort Bragg sea urchin; roasted calamari with lovage salsa verde, lemon and fried corona beans; Montanara Rockridge pizza with lightly fried dough, smoky tomato sauce, burrata and basil; salsiccia e vongole; crispy fried lamb sweetbreads with peas and marsala, and pork polpettone with egg, spring onion, and roasted baby carrots.) In preparation for his new role, Maselli recently went to Naples to earn his pizzaiolo certification, and travelled along the A16 highway researching recipes. Drinks will focus on Southern Italian wines and Italian-inspired cocktails. Think “rustic charm” for the décor which was designed in collaboration with Cass Calder Smith of CCS Architecture. A16 will also offer that rare thing for the East Bay: late-night dining. For details, follow A16 Rockridge on Facebook, or at on Twitter at @A16Rockridge. … Continue reading »

Openings, closings

SISTA SANDWICH New in town: start-up Sista Sandwich, which provides grab-and-go gourmet gluten free sandwiches in Berkeley. Laura Tucker, who founded the company with her sister Sharon Pearlstein, says Sista is one of the few companies to be filling this niche and, so far, business is good. “Our 100% gluten free sandwiches are made in Oakland and sold in Berkeley,” she says. The idea for Sista Sandwich came in the fall of 2011 while the pair were sitting in a cafe discussing how they would love to start a food related business of their own. While at the cafe Laura, who had been on a gluten free diet for two years already, realized that there was nothing for her to eat, other than yogurt, chips and packs of nuts. The Sista Sandwiches can be found at Berkeley Bowl, in two cafés on the UC Berkeley campus, at the new Café La Renaissance (see below) as well as a couple of small Berkeley markets. … Continue reading »

ROOS IN THE TOP PADDOCK Australia’s Circus Oz returns to Cal Performances Friday, Saturday and Sunday for what’s described as “their renowned brand of collective mayhem.” “Stunt-jumping acrobats contest physics, fearless aerial artists laugh at gravity, slapstick knockabouts descend into chaos, and live onstage musicians rock the house.” The matinee performance on Saturday has special Family Fare series pricing. At Zellerbach Hall on Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets available from Cal Performances.